


The Prime Experiment

by Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Missing Scene, Pre-Canon, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-15
Updated: 2013-11-15
Packaged: 2018-01-01 16:18:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1045947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mara Jade was taken into Palpatine's care at an early age, and it cannot help but cause a small rivalry almost from the beginning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Prime Experiment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ancarett](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ancarett/gifts).



Palpatine made a complete circle of the girl-child, evaluating her personally now that she had been delivered. Unusual hair, piercing eyes for one so young were his more superficial thoughts. They would have a use, in time. A more in depth analysis, provided by raking his Force sensitivities over her, gave him the impression of a pool of power waiting to be tapped.

 _Which Jedi strayed from his or her tenets to produce your line, my child? You are far stronger in the Force than I had hoped for._ The parents had been offered compensation. In the end… a small smile tugged at Palpatine's lips at the report he'd had from his personal guard in that matter.

"Mara," he said with a warmth he had rarely needed to use since young Skywalker's seduction to his side.

The child lifted her eyes to his, unafraid of the disfiguration that use of the Dark Side had left on his own features. That was promising, he felt, for her future in his service. Perhaps… well, time would tell if she was suitable as more than just a tool.

"You will be my very special companion, a student and explorer for me. Do you understand?"

Despite the fact she was far too young to understand it at all, she answered him firmly. "I am yours, my Emperor."

_Yes, you are._

* * *

Lord Vader had little use for the distraction offered at the private dinners he could not escape. His Master had insisted on his presence for this one, though, made up of himself, the Emperor, a Moff, and three lesser officers of the Fleet.

"Is it not the finest mark of an Imperial Officer to be loyal in all ways to the vision I have graciously granted the Empire?" Palpatine asked in such a rhetoric fashion that Vader could only wonder as the Moff deigned to attempt an answer. Vader focused his attention outward, more carefully, as the veiled dancers came in toward the table.

Something was afoot, and it hinged on the Moff's answer.

"But of course, Emperor Palpatine," the doomed officer began. "You have given us guidelines that are more than enough in leading the Empire further on its majestic road."

"Guidelines, you say?" Palpatine questioned.

"The command experience of your line officers, Emperor, cannot be denied its place in amending the guidelines as needed to accomplish the best of the Imperial interests," his prey answered, just as one of the dancers offered a tray of spiced treats. Vader paid close attention to the Emperor, curious how the example would be made.

The other three officers were aware that a line had been crossed. Vader felt one grow nervous, and the other two attempting to maintain dignified control over their features. In the growing hostile atmosphere, the Moff reached for the offered treat, raising the left arm at an angle that exposed the opening of the thin armor worn beneath the dress uniform.

The veiled dancer, not more than a youth, reacted swiftly. The tray did not even bobble as the dancer shot her other hand out, a slender, long blade slicing precisely into the opening to pierce the lung. More, the dancer twisted the blade, jerking it slightly so as to leave a puncture that would not easily seal with a pressure pack.

"I happen to disagree with your sentiment," Palpatine said calmly, flicking a hand at the troupe of dancers. In moments, they had divested themselves of the trays they had used and filed out, but Vader made note of the assassin. He kept track of her even as the dancers shuffled to hide her among them. It brought memories back, memories he firmly quashed of handmaidens and _her_. Instead, he savored the feel of the assassin, a touch of Force sensitivity and ruthlessness, bound tightly to his Master.

He knew now why he had been present, as the guards came to clear away the dying man. His Master was not always subtle, and Vader was certain the recently acquired Force Sensitive was being trained, kept in the wings, should Vader fail their Master.

In other words, she was a threat to be studied… and eliminated at the first possible chance.

* * *

Palpatine found the child in her room, studying on three separate screens. Such a dedication to her pursuits, all in his name. He savored the power behind that, shaping a young life to his full bidding, so that every action she took was an extension of his own will, but solely of her own choosing. Yes, if only he had been able to be more overt in Skywalker's life, if he had begun earlier, he would not have these momentary discipline infractions from his apprentice.

"My child," he purred softly, using the quiet and carefully nurturing tones. Oh, the pleasure he felt in subverting Jedi weaknesses to his use!

"Did I please, my Emperor?" Mara asked, setting all three screens on pause to focus solely on him.

"Most assuredly, my child." He sat in the adult sized chair within her room. "You have helped me greatly by removing one who did not understand the true path we must take."

"Good." Her eyes remained bright, not dulled like the professional blasters for hire. Yes, Mara Jade would be his greatest experiment in making a human being over in his own image. In time, she would serve as an interesting counterpoint to Vader.

"You will learn more techniques, be given all the tools you need, but none must ever suspect your true nature or how dear to me you are, my child," Palpatine told her. 

She inclined her head. "The most deadly threat is the one unseen despite being in plain sight."

"Indeed. And yet… there were other guests at dinner tonight," he reminded, setting a task out for her to see just how she chose to handle it.

She focused on him, considering each of the guests that night. "The three captains can be found, easily handled even from this point of training I have. However," she tipped her head to one side. "Am I to count the Lord Vader as guest, or fixture?"

Palpatine smiled, then laughed. So the child had perception as well. "Why don't we let his actions tell us the answer to that, my child? For now, merely observe."

Mara regarded him steadily. "For now."

* * *

Mara strode into the Emperor's presence, calm and confident despite her youth. She wore the mask and layered survival gear of an Ubese bounty hunter, having recently returned from an assignment alongside the Crimson Nova.

"Yes, my child?" Palpatine enquired as she removed the helmet.

"Your resources were excellent as ever. The fugitive Jedi is now dead." She set the lightsaber down as proof.

"Take that, study it, my child," Palpatine told her. "We are fast coming to a point when you must master it as a weapon."

Mara did not blink or betray her sense of anticipation. For her to need the lightsaber meant that Lord Vader was stepping up his own ambitions.

"I shall endeavor to do justice to your faith in me, my Emperor," Mara promised.

"Of course you will, my child." Palpatine smiled darkly, eyes sunken even further in his hooded face. "I see changes ahead, and feel the stirring of other fates. But, I have you, yes?"

"Always," she vowed.

"Then all is ready, and these other whispers of rising Jedi will come to nothing, no matter what my Apprentice believes," Palpatine said. "He hears whispers of the dead, my child."

"Should he be allowed to hear them louder?" Mara asked.

Palpatine laughed, full and hard with cold malice. "Not yet. We shall let him flush the prey, and then… then we shall end this trivial disobedience."

Mara inclined her head. "As you wish, my Emperor."

* * *

In the grasp of her Emperor's death, there was but one satisfaction found. Vader was dead, his treachery revealed for her to silently bear witness to through Palpatine's last message.

Now, she had but to hunt Skywalker, and all of her envy/hate/fear that had fueled her wariness of Vader was refocused to that purpose alone. All else was but a detail in the overall mission.

…. and the Saga continues

**Author's Note:**

> Super Secret Message to Ancarett:
> 
> I hope this sates, at least a little, your hunger for more Mara. I used her Wookiepedia entry to provide the framework, as I was not finding quite the right tag within the trilogy itself. Forgive me, if this was undesired.


End file.
